PM concludes trip to APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a dialogue between APEC leaders and IMF (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his entourage arrived in Hanoi on late November 18, concluding his trip to Papua New Guinea to attend the 26th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting. From November 17-18, the PM attended and joined discussions at numerous closed-door meetings, working luncheons with APEC leaders, and dialogues with the International Monetary Fund, leaders of 14 Pacific island states, the APEC Business Advisory Council. He also held bilateral meetings with the PMs of New Zealand, Vanuatu, Thailand, the head of the Hong Kong (China) Special Administrative Region, and representatives from the US-APEC Business Alliance, including several major US firms investing in Vietnam. At the meetings, the Vietnamese PM made strong calls for promoting trade liberalisation and investment, supporting the World Trade Organisation, economic connectivity, sustainable and inclusive development, and switch to digital economy. He called on APEC to play a vanguard role and foster innovative initiatives, turning Asia-Pacific into a global technological hub. APEC needs to create new driving forces for growth, trade, investment, connectivity and inclusive development, he said, stressing that only by so doing can APEC affirm its position as the leading economic forum in the region. As the top regional economic connectivity mechanism, APEC needs to actively promote existing cooperation mechanisms such as the ASEAN Economic Community, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), towards… [Read full story]